Scary & Suspense Short Story Unit

Short story unit · Grades 6–10 · Slides + PDF · $9.99 or included with All-Access

Eight original scary and suspense short stories I wrote for October, plus the questions to go with them. They work for middle school and early high school readers who want something spooky that isn't in the textbook.

Read a story together or let students pick one. Most stories come with either two free-write inference questions or two short constructed response (SCR) prompts. The first three stories also have a 10, 10 and 5 question comprehension quiz with answers and explanations. Several later stories add ECR prompts (argumentative and correspondence) or creative writing prompts.

Settings range from a haunted lighthouse and a dollhouse mansion to a Dia de los Muertos marigold path and a superhero gone dark.

What's included

• 8 original stories in one PDF: Lavender Lane, The Dollhouse Mansion, The Lighthouse's Lament, The Haunting Waltz of Grandstone High, Whispers of Willowbrook Manor, The Descent of Solarflare, Maw of the Marlowe Mansion, Whisper of the Marigold Path
• Free-write inference questions for 3 stories
• Comprehension quizzes (25 multiple-choice questions total) with answers and explanations
• SCR prompts for 4 stories
• ECR prompts (argumentative and correspondence) for 2 stories
• Creative writing prompts for 2 stories
• Short overview slide deck (.pptx)

How teachers use it

• October reading days or the week before Halloween
• Inference and SCR practice with a fresh, unfamiliar text
• Choice reading: groups take different stories and share out
• Sub days: print a story and its questions